*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 *

**Remarks at a Campaign Rally for Senator Luther J. Strange III in Huntsville, Alabama **

*September 22, 2017 *

*The President.* Thank you very much. Wow. Thank you, everybody. I love this place. You know, we set every record in Alabama. I love Alabama. It's special. Thank you very much.

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President.* Well, I am—I'm thrilled to be here with a really great person that I've gotten to know, Luther Strange, and with the hard-working patriotic citizens of this great State. And you have some football games tomorrow, but we're going to have a lot fun. And then, you're going to win at football tomorrow. I love this State, and I love the people of this State. They've been so good to me. And we are producing, we are really producing.

*Audience members.* We love you. [*Applause*]

*The President*. Thank you. Thank you.

And on Tuesday, we're going to send a real fighter and a real good guy from Alabama to the United States Senate on a permanent basis.

And we have another great person in our audience tonight: Richard Shelby. Where's Richard? Where is he? Richard. Where's Richard? Thank you, Richard. Stand up so they can see you, Richard. Fantastic. Thank you, Richard. Respected man, I will tell you. He's respected and loved in the Senate. He's only been there for what 34 years or something like that. [*Laughter*] Right? But he loves the people of Alabama too.

And like all of you, Luther Strange knows the true source of America's strength: It's God, it's family, and it's country.

And Luther is going to be taking over for a man that you all love. What's his name? Huh? Senator Jeff Sessions. You loved Jeff Sessions. And he's doing a good job. He is doing a good job. He's—we have him very busy watching the borders. A lot of things are happening. But Luther is taking over for Jeff, hopefully. And you are going to be so impressed with what we're going to do in Washington.

But before we begin, I want to send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Texas and Louisiana and Florida and Georgia and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and all of the other communities that have recently been ravaged by storms and by floods. And I called the other day—I spoke to your Governor. I said, how you doing? She said, well, we have about 17 million people that just entered Alabama for shelter. And you took such great care of those people. You really did. I said, you know, Governor, you're the fastest growing State anywhere in the world this week. [*Laughter*] But it was—you really did, you did a great job. And your Governor is doing a great job too, by the way.

When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. We grieve over all that's been lost, but we're also inspired by the incredible strength and spirit and resilience of our people. Together, we will recover, rebuild, and return bigger, better, stronger than ever before. It's going to happen. It's going to happen quickly. Quickly. Better. Right? We also send our prayers to the people of Mexico. They got hit hard by a devastating earthquake. Taken a lot of lives, a lot more than they even thought. And I've spoken with the President of Mexico and we pledged our total support. We have crews in there right now lifting up that heavy concrete, and it's rough—it's a rough sight. It's a rough sight. We've got a lot of people we sent down with a lot of big equipment, but it's a tough—that's a tough go. It's a really tough thing to look at and to see and to see the sadness. But that was bad.

I've just come from a very productive week at the United Nations General Assembly. [*Applause*] Ooo!

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President. *——where we've been working with our friends and allies to pursue a future of prosperity and security and peace. And we've got some really good people that I know and have tremendous relationships, and we have some really, really bad people. And we're going to take care of the bad people. It's about time. We're going to take care of the bad people.

It's one of the greatest honors of my life to represent the American people on that world stage. And I will tell you, the world is starting to respect the United States of America again. As I said during my address to the United Nations, I will always defend America's interests above all else. I'm here for you. I'm not here for global interests. We're not here for the rest of the globe, and we want to treat the rest of the globe right.

And you know, when I say America first, everyone is saying, gee—and I never liked it from the standpoint that if you're in another country, you want your country to be first by the leader. Right? So nobody really understood—for years, they've said, America first. Although, I'm the one that really means it. There's a big difference. [*Laughter*] And I said, look, it's going to be America first. We're going to renegotiate these trade deals. We're bringing a lot of people back. We're bringing companies back. You see it in Alabama. You see it in Alabama.

But I'm not going to worry so much about other countries. I want to treat them with respect, I want to treat them good, and I want their people to fight for them just like I'm going to fight. But we're going to be like your football teams. We're going to win all the time. We're going to win, believe me.

I believe the best path to a more peaceful world are proud, independent, and sovereign nations that serve and respect their own people. When you look at what's going on in the world, you have so many where they don't respect their people. But we want nations that cooperate together to create better for all people. That's what we're all about, all people. And we can't have mad men out there shooting rockets all over the place.

And by the way, Rocket Man should have been handled a long time ago. [*Laughter*] He should have been handled a long time ago by Clinton—I won't mention the Republicans, right, but—by Obama. Why did this—you know, this is a different time. This should have been handled 8 years ago and 4 years ago. And honestly—and 15 years ago and 20 years ago and 25 years ago. This shouldn't be handled now, but I'm going to handle it because we have to handle it.

Little Rocket Man. We're going to do it because we really have no choice. We really have no choice. Now he's talking about a massive weapon exploding over the ocean—Pacific Ocean—which causes tremendous, tremendous calamity. Where that plume goes, so goes cancer, so goes tremendous problems. And I want to tell you something—and I'm sure he's listening, because he watches every word, and I guarantee you one thing: He's watching us like he never watched anybody before. That I can tell you. That I can tell you.

And maybe something gets worked out, and maybe it doesn't. Personally, I'm not sure that it will. Other people like to say, "Oh, we want peace." You know, they've been saying for now 25 years, "Oh, we want peace, we want peace." And then, he goes and just keeps going, going, going. Well, maybe something gets worked out, and maybe it doesn't. But I can tell you one thing: You are protected. Okay? You are protected. Nobody is going to mess with our people. Nobody is going to play games. Nobody is going to put our people in that kind of danger. Nobody.

And Japan and South Korea are right up there with us. And by the way, many other countries—many, many other countries. They're right up there with us.

And I have to tell you, I made a friend in China—President Xi—and yesterday he basically took the banking industry away from North Korea. Never been done before. Never been done. That's based on relationship. Relationship is very good. But we're dealing with somebody that we'll figure out. He may be smart, he may be strategic, and he may be totally crazy. [*Laughter*] But you know what? No matter what he is, we're going to handle it, folks. Believe me, we're going to handle it.

The foundation for progress begins at home with a Government that protects and defends our citizens. And that's what we have to do. That is why I'm here tonight to ask the good people of Alabama to send Luther Strange to the United States Senate so he can defend your interests, fight for your values, and always put America first. Go out and get out the vote.

But I'm going to tell you—I'll just tell you this quick, crazy story. So why do I like Luther? Because, you know, I have a lot of friends, and some of them called, "Do you mind if I go for the other candidate?" I said, really, you can. I mean, some of them are working for me, and they feel—and that's fine. Of course, they may not have a job on Monday, but these are my—[*laughter*]—right, Richard? We may have to get rid of a few of them. I've already gotten rid of a few of them. [*Laughter*] But they're good people. No, they're good people.

But I'll tell you what happened. The first go-around on health care, I said, you know for 7 years we've been hearing "repeal and replace Obamacare," right? For 7 years, I've been hearing "repeal and replace." So I'm very much involved. You know, they like to say, "Well, Mr. Trump, President Trump sat in the Oval Office and didn't"—I'm on the phone screaming at people all day long for weeks. They gave me a list of 10 people that were absolute "noes." These are 10 Republican Senators. Now, John McCain's——

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* John McCain's list—John McCain was not on the list, so that was a totally unexpected thing. Terrible. Honestly, terrible. Repeal and replace—because John McCain, if you look at his campaign, his last campaign, was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace. So he decided to do something different, and that's fine. And I say, we still have a chance to—oh, we're going to do it eventually. We're going to do it eventually. Oh, with Luther and everyone, we're going to do it.

But I have to tell you this story, because we're here tonight for Luther Strange. I'm here sort of for two. I'm here for Luther, and I'm actually here—it's a Friday night. I really do love the people of Alabama because you've treated me so good. In fact, I said—I don't want to speak negatively—I said, though, if I lose this election, maybe I'll end up moving to Alabama or Kentucky or, like, some States. I mean, nice to go where people love you and where you love them, because it's special.

So here's what happened. Here's what happened. But we never want to lose, right? And despite that, we don't want to lose because we have a great agenda. And we're—by the way, we're doing a lot of work. We're getting a lot of things done. They hate to admit it. Including, we have a Supreme Court Justice, Judge Gorsuch, who will save—how about a thing called your Second Amendment, right? Okay? Remember that? If Crooked Hillary got elected, you would not have a Second Amendment, believe me. You'd be handing in your rifles. You'd be saying, "Here, here, here they are." You'd go, like, here. You'd be turning over your rifles.

*Audience members.* Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

*The President.* You've got to speak to Jeff Sessions about that. [*Laughter*]

So here's what happened with Luther. So Luther—I get this list, 10 names of people that are absolute total "noes." And there were good people, a lot of them. By the way, in all fairness, Rand Paul was on that list. They say don't even waste your time calling him. He voted twice "yes." Okay? He was very good. And I haven't given up on him, because I think he may come around. Okay? Wouldn't it by—be ironic if he took John McCain's place? And they definitely do not like each other. Wouldn't that be ironic? That would be very ironic for those of you that know the inner workings of the Senate.

So with Luther—so I have a list, and one of the names is Luther Strange. And I know he's the Senator from Alabama, but I don't know him. I met him once. I said, that is the tallest human being I've ever seen. [*Laughter*] I'm tall. I'm tall. I never saw something—he's like—he should be on the New York Knicks; they could use him. [*Laughter*]

So Luther—that's why I call him Big Luther. Everyone is now calling him Big Luther. But I have to tell you—so I call up the different people: "Well, Mr. President, could you have dinner with my wife, myself, my family, my kids, my cousins, my uncles, and I'd like to talk to you about it." "Okay." So they come over with the family. Pictures all night, everything. Okay, and I'll get a vote or I won't—whatever. But brutal, brutal. [*Laughter*] You know? You know what that is, folks, right? It's called brutality. [*Laughter*]

I call another one, I say: "Senator, we need your vote. I know you're opposed to it, but I'd like—[*laughter*]. "Well, you know, I think I can get there, but you have to do me a favor. You have to see my brother and his wife. They love you, and they want to have dinner with you, and they want to have breakfast with you and lunch." [*Laughter*] "Then, after you're finished with them, how about we'll go out for a picnic someplace on the White House lawn? [*Laughter*] And then, after that, maybe we'll start talking about it?" I said, oh, my God—oh. It was brutal. You have no idea. Okay.

Now I call Luther Strange. I said, oh, I've got to call this guy. And he's a "no," right? And I say, Senator, I need your help. I said, I've got to get your vote on health care. He says, "You've got it." I said, what do you mean I have it? Because I've just been hammered by all of these people. Right? What do you mean I have it? He said: "Sir, I was for you right from the beginning. I knew you were going to win. I knew you were going to win the whole thing. I've always been for you. My family has always been for you. And honestly, Mr. President, if you want my vote, you have it." I said, do I have to come and meet you someplace? [*Laughter*] Do I have to have dinner with your family? I think his wife, by the way, is fantastic. But I said, do I have to have dinner with you and your wife? "No, sir, you don't have to have anything. I've supported you from the beginning, and you shouldn't even waste any more time talking to me. Mr. President, you have my total support."

I went home and told my wife that's the coolest thing that's happened to me in 6 months. Okay? It's true. It's a true story.

And then, time goes by, and he voted. And then, of course, you know, John McCain came in, and he went thumbs down at 3 o'clock in the morning, and everybody——

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Everybody. Oh, I know so much, folks, I could tell you. It was sad. And we had a couple of other Senators. But you know, at least we knew where we stood there. That was, like, really a horrible thing. Honestly, that was a horrible, horrible thing that happened to the Republican Party. That was a horrible thing.

So anyway, so time goes by, and I see Luther is in a race. And he—people are saying he's friendly—whether you like Mitch McConnell or not, it doesn't matter—but they're saying he's friendly with Mitch. He doesn't even know Mitch McConnell. He was just there for a few months, and they've put that mantle around his neck. And I told Mitch I'd like to say this. You know, I don't like to, but I'm telling you, he doesn't know Mitch McConnell at all. Luther is a tough, tough cookie. He doesn't deal with and kowtow to anybody.

So they put it around—so all of a sudden, I see he's down in the race by a lot. And I said, man, that's really unfair. They were giving him a bum rap—because he happened to be in the Senate, they were giving him a bum rap. And I remember the call. And by the way, the other people that I called—and they're all fine—but you don't even remember. The dinners, the this—you don't even remember any of it. You remember one sentence: "Sir, don't even waste your time talking anymore. You have a lot of business to do. You have my vote." This was a definite no. And I said, that's the coolest thing. And I remembered it.

And I called him, and I checked. And he was down—because of being saddled with stuff, he was down by quite a bit, and I said, I'm going to endorse you. And he didn't believe it. He said, "You would do that?" I said, yes, I'm going to do that. I shouldn't be doing it. The last thing I want to do is be involved in a primary. Okay? [*Laughter*] I could be sitting home right now getting to watch some of the games tomorrow, getting ready, right? But seriously, the last thing I wanted to do is get——

But I'll never forget the way he did that. It was really cool. So what happened is, I called him, and I said, you know, I want to find—first of all, how are you doing? How are you doing? And he said, "Honestly, I'm down a little bit, but I think we're going to go." I said, I think you're going to come back too, Luther. I think you're going to come back and you're going to kick everyone's ass, and you're going to do great. [*Applause*] You're going to do great.

Because he got saddled with things that he should not have gotten saddled with. So he started off here. He was in third or fourth. He went to third, second, and now it's, like, almost pretty even, right? And I called him up a week ago, and I said, you know, I think you're down by a few points, but I'm going to come to Alabama and I'm going to make a speech for you on Friday night. And—such a true story. And as soon as we announced—you know, you look at this arena. You know, the media, the fake news, I call it—[*laughter*].

*Audience members.* Boo! *The President.* The worst. Fake news. They won't show this. You know, they'll say, "Donald Trump spoke before a small crowd in Alabama last night." [*Laughter*] "It was a small crowd. Very unenthusiastic crowd. It was a terrible evening." No, these are the most—among the most dishonest people. I really mean it. These are among the most dishonest.

For instance, look at the crowd. I'd love to have them show the crowd, but they don't show the crowd. They show me the whole night. I go home, I say, Melania—by the way, she's become very popular, hasn't she? She's become very popular. Man. I mean, she respects the White House. We love the White House. They actually said about me that I called the White House a "dump." I think the White House is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, and I speak of it with reverence. And they said that, and they wouldn't retract it. And I hated it because I speak so well—I love the White House.

But my wife respects the White House greatly. So when she leaves the plane, we're going to Texas where they have the hurricane. And she leaves the plane, and she's dressed appropriately for the White House—you know, because we respect the White House a lot. And she's wearing high heels, like many of you would do, and they went after her. But she didn't know. And then, when she got out in the plane in Texas, she was wearing sneakers, which she had with her. So—and they know it was dishonest, but that's the way it is. They said she wore high heels. You know, she's going to go into the floods with the high heels. But she has become very popular.

But I'll have to say this—so Luther did that for me, and I remembered Luther. We have to be loyal in life. You know, there's something called loyalty with these folk. And I might have made a mistake. And I'll be honest, I might have made a mistake—because, you know, here's the story. If Luther doesn't win, they're not going to say we picked up 25 points in a very short period of time. They're going to say: "Donald Trump, the President of the United States, was unable to pull his candidate across the line. It is a terrible, terrible moment for Trump. This is total embarrassment for him." I mean, these are bad people.

And by the way, both good men. Both good men. And you know what? And I told Luther—I have to say this—if his opponent wins, I'm going to be here campaigning like hell for him. But I have to say this—and you understand this, and just look at the polls—Luther will definitely win. No? You know what I'm saying. Roy has a very good chance of not winning in the general election. No, it's all about the general—don't forget, we don't stop here. You have an election coming up. The day this is over—so this is over on Tuesday—on Wednesday morning the new race begins. You've got to beat a Democrat. Luther is going to win easily, and Roy is going to have a hard time winning. But I will be backing him if he wins. I will be backing him. Okay? I'll tell you that.

And just like I backed Huntsville—because, you know, if you look at Huntsville, billions and billions of dollars from the—and to the Army missile defense—what you're going—how important. By the way—by the way—how important are those words now when you hear "missile defense"? Thank you very much, Huntsville. Thank you. Missile defense.

You know, when you hear those two words—last week, as you saw—you know, we just approved a $700 billion budget. Much higher than originally anticipated. Again, if the other candidate had won against me, that would have gone way down. [*Laughter*] It was going way down. You don't know what we're doing. We're rebuilding the military at a level to which it's never been before. We're rebuilding. But that would have gone way, way down. [*Laughter*] And then, you look at, as an example, the new FBI facility that's being built. Great, great. You look at NASA. How about NASA? Billions of dollars. And Richard Shelby, by the way, has been a big help on this, I have to tell you. A big help. He's been a big help.

But I will say this: We're spending a tremendous amount of money in Alabama, and you are doing great. And as long as I'm President, you are going to have so much money spent here. And you know what? Lots of other States also. We're bringing back jobs. We're bringing back companies. Companies are not building in other areas. In some cases, they've already started the plant, and they're not—they're coming back. I'm renegotiating NAFTA, one of the worst trade deals ever made. It's one of the worst trade deals ever made.

We stopped other trade deals. We are doing a job. We are—I'll tell you what, we have jobs and companies pouring back into this country like they haven't seen. The lowest unemployment in almost 17 years, the most number of jobs in the history of our country. Now, with all of that being said, we have a lot of people that want to work. We have a lot of people that have given up on finding jobs. Those people are going to be taken care of. That's one of the reasons we—we as a group—that's why we won. One of the reasons. I think we won because of the military. I think we won because of the vets. I think we won because of the evangelicals. I mean, take a look at that, right?

But I had to tell that story about Luther because, you know what, you go back and tell it—I thought it was really cool. So I said, I'll be there. And then, I saw some things that I didn't like. He was down a little further than I liked. I said, I'm not sure. And I said, Luther, you have got what it takes. You have really got it, and let's go. That was 2 months ago, and you've got yourself an even race. If you guys go out and vote—if he gets out the vote, you're going to win. You're going to have a great Senator. You're going to have a great Senator.

And he won't only be great, he'll be the tallest Senator in the history of the United States Senate. [*Laughter*] So okay. That's not so bad, right? And Shelby is pretty tall too, by the way.

But he is going to be great, because he's tough on crime, he's tough on borders. Don't worry. Don't even think about it.

And you know who I have here tonight? General John Kelly, who headed up Homeland Security. And what a job he did on the borders. Where's General? Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? General, come up here quick. Come here, come here. Four star. Come here. Come, come, come. This guy—what a great man this is. No games. You know the expression? There's no games being played. Four-star marine; there are very few. Four-star General.

Say something.

*White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly.* Come on, give it up!

*The President.* He just wants to work. He's done a great job. Four-star marine, that's good. But what he did on the borders—and this is without the wall. By the way, the wall is happening, folks. Okay? Believe me. The wall is happening.

In fact, you probably saw—you know, we have wall up there now, and we're renovating it already. It's being made pristine, perfect, just as good as new. Although, we may go a little bit higher than that, but that's okay. And we're building samples of the new wall. You know, it has to be a see-through wall. If—I don't know if you know this. Frankly, I didn't know it until about a year ago, as much as I say. If you can't have vision through it, you don't know who's on the other side. Let's say we build a precast concrete wall, and now we have people on the other side. Literally, I was given an example. It's so bad. It's going to stop drugs; it's going to stop a lot of bad things—because the drug epidemic in this country is out of control. We're going to stop it. We're going to stop it.

But they would literally—so you have a concrete wall, and it goes—and that's what I do best. That's what I do best. That's what I really do—although we've done a good job at politics too. In all fairness, we've only been doing it for about 2 years so—[*applause*]. But what I do best: I build. So you have a concrete wall, and you have Mexico—wonderful, wonderful place—Mexico, and you have over here the United States. But you can't see anything, right? So now they take drugs, literally, and they throw it—a hundred pounds of drugs—they throw it over the wall—they have catapults—but they throw it over the wall, and it lands, and it hits somebody on the head. You don't even know they're there. Believe it or not, this is the kind of stuff that happens.

So you need to have a great wall, but it has to be see-through. We are now looking at samples. We have four samples that have already been built, General, right? They've been built. And we're looking at different samples already of see-through walls. And I think, also, to be honest with you, a see-through wall would look better. You have—you know, you don't have that—whatever it might be.

But we are looking at four different samples built by four great companies, four different concepts. They're just about completed. I'm going to go out and look at them personally. I'm going to pick the right one. We're renovating the existing wall, and we are going to have as much wall as we need. You don't need it all the way. You know, you have 2,000 miles. You don't need it, because you have a lot of natural barriers, etc. Somebody said: "Well what are you going to do? Are you going to build that wall in the middle of the river?" "Are you—that nobody can go in? Are you going to build that wall on the mountain?" I said, you don't need the wall on the mountain; you have a mountain which is a wall.

But we're going to build the wall. It's coming along great. We're soon going to have the final choices done, and the renovations will be done, I would say, within the next 6 or 7months. We're spending a tremendous amount of money, and we're going to have that. So I just wanted to let you know where we are.

So we're very, very happy about that. And you know—because every once in a while, you hear, "Well, you know, he doesn't really want to build the wall." I say, excuse me? That's the great thing about Twitter. [*Applause*] Okay? You know, when the press is dishonest, which is most of the time—[*laughter*]—and when they say, like, I don't want to build the wall, I can tweet: "That was a false story—boom, boom, boom."

No, you know, it's really not a question about we want to do a wall. We really have to do a wall in order to stop the drugs, in particular. And we've dealing with ICE; we've been dealing with the Border Patrol. They both endorsed me. First time they've ever endorsed a candidate for President. And these guys know better than anybody. They know better than the architects, better than the consultants. This country used to go out and get consultants. They'd spend a fortune on consultants to say what to do, how to build it, everything. They didn't have a clue. They got out of the Harvard school of something, and they'd write about a wall.

Let me just tell you, the best guys that are telling you what to do are the Border Patrol. The best guys—or ICE. These are the guys that know. And you know what it costs? It costs nothing. Nothing. We get it free, and they're happy to do. I was with them 2 weeks ago. They're happy to do it. So it's really great, and it's going to be a very important element to making America great again, like your hat. When it comes to reforming Washington and taking on the bureaucracy, I'm telling you—because I've seen him, he's tough as hell—Luther is your man.

Luther wants to end business as usual, stop the insider dealing, and Luther Strange is determined to drain that swamp. Luther has been fighting hard for the people of Alabama and for the people of the United States since his first job in office. Now, I have to tell you something. He hasn't been there very long. And again, he doesn't know those people. He'd never met them; he doesn't know them. And they can't saddle him with it, but he doesn't know those people.

But Luther has worked so hard. And I know the ones who work hard, and I know the ones that don't work hard. In fact, I was talking about it with Richard before. Don't worry, Richard, I'm not going to give away any big secret. [*Laughter*] But we were talking about it. We were talking about—he's a hard worker, Richard, I want to tell you that. He's been working hard for 34 years. But we were talking—we were talking about who are the smart ones, who are the hard-working ones. We talked about who are the less smart ones too. I learned a lot. [*Laughter*] That's a lot of knowledge.

But Luther shares our convictions and our vision, and maybe most importantly, he shares our agenda. Remember, he's going to win the race. He's going to win the race. And I'm not talking here, I'm talking against the Democrat, which starts very quickly. But it's why we need each and every one of you to get a friend, go out get a family member, get the whole family, and bring them out to vote for Big Luther Strange. Got to vote for him. Big Luther.

Luther and I, and everyone in this arena tonight, are unified by the same great American values. We're proud of our country. We respect our flag. Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, "Get that son of a bitch off the field right now—out, he's fired"? He's fired! Wouldn't you love it?

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President.* You know, some owner is going to do that. He's going to say, that guy that disrespects our flag, he's fired. And that owner—they don't know it, they don't know it. They're friends of mine, many of them. They don't know it—they'll be the most popular person for a week. They'll be the most popular person in this country. Because that's a total disrespect of our heritage. That's a total disrespect of everything that we stand for, okay? Everything that we stand for.

And I know we have freedoms, and we have freedom of choice and many, many different freedoms. But you know what? It's still totally disrespectful. And you know, when the NFL ratings are down massively—massively—the NFL ratings are down massively. Now, the number-one reason happens to be that they like watching what's happening on—you know—with yours truly. They like what's happening. This—because, you know, today, if you hit too hard, right—they hit too hard—15 yards, throw him out of the game. They had that last week. I watched for a couple of minutes. And two guys just really beautiful tackle—boom, 15 yards. The referee gets on television. His wife is sitting at home; she's so proud of him. They're ruining the game. [*Laughter*] Right? They're ruining the game.

Hey, look, that's what they want to do; they want to hit, okay? They want to hit. But it is hurting the game. But you know what's hurting the game more than that? When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they're playing our great national anthem. *Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* The only thing you could do better is, if you see it, even if it's one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore anyway.

Now, one of the things we've done—and when I say "we", it's us together—we protect religious liberty—because we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the true centers of American life. In America, we don't worship government, we worship God. [*Applause*] Right?

We cherish our magnificent Constitution, and we believe judges must interpret the Constitution as written, and that includes defending, as I just said, our great Second Amendment. We support the rule of law, and we stand strong with the incredible men and women of law enforcement. We protect our citizens, uphold our traditions, and we will always defend our borders.

These are Alabama values. I understand the people of Alabama. I feel like I'm from Alabama, frankly. Isn't it a little weird when a guy who lives on Fifth Avenue—[*laughter*]—in the most beautiful apartment you've ever seen, comes to Alabama and Alabama loves that guy? I mean, it's crazy. [*Applause*] Crazy. It's crazy. But I do: I understand your values. I love your values. And those are the values that I believe in. Those are the values that made this country. Those are the values that made this country great. Those are the values. I understand those values.

But as you know, these values have been under attack for many years in Washington, and that's why we need a person like Luther Strange. We need him. You've got to get out and vote. You know, I think if everybody in this room gets out and votes, Luther, you win easily. Got to vote. Just get out and vote. Got to get out and vote.

So Luther is not in Washington to serve the special interests like a lot of people. Even the way he handled that thing with me, he didn't ask me, "Oh, you've got to do this and that." In the end, what did he do? He got better. I would never have done it. Let's say he was difficult; I would never have—but he never went quid pro quo. He just treated me great. And I called him; I said, do you want me to help you? He couldn't believe it. He said, "Why?" I said, because you gave me the coolest answer I've had in a long time. That's why I'm here. He didn't ask me.

The only mistake he made—I shouldn't say this—he said, "Sir, we have a venue that holds a thousand people." I said, Luther, that's no good, a thousand people. We can do much better than that. And then, we came up with this job, and we are packed. And by the way, outside there are thousands of people that can't get in. They do not have your real estate ability, okay? Thousands. You've got thousands of people outside. Thousands. And they may be listening, because we put some big speakers out there, and I hope they're going to vote for Luther. They may not be too happy. [*Laughter*] But I think they will.

So Luther came to Washington to serve you and to represent you. And I can tell you that when Big Luther—we call him now Big Luther. Did people call you Big Luther before you met Trump? You know, I brand people. Some people I brand as this or that. We don't have to go into it, because a lot of them are now friends of mine. A lot of them are friends of mine. But—so nobody ever called you Big Luther? I think it's a great name. The guy is 7 feet tall. What are you going to do, call him—I can never call him Little Luther, right? [*Laughter*] But I do. I just saw him; I said, he's Big Luther, and that's cool. But when he walks in, everybody knows that Alabama has arrived. Luther was a very, very advanced Eagle Scout who has not spent his lifetime in politics. He only entered public life in recent years, and he's been in Washington for even less time than me. So he doesn't know all these people that he's supposed to know. He has his own mind. He has the mind that you want.

In his short time in public office, Luther has proved that he's not beholden to anyone and not afraid to take on anyone. And I've seen it. As your attorney general in Alabama, Luther won over 25 public corruption convictions. And now he's brought that same political courage to Washington. And I have to tell you, friends of mine—because I have a lot of friends in Alabama—and friends of mine have told me, very strongly, that if Luther wasn't appointed to office for the short term, if he just said he's going to run when you have to run—which is now—he'd be leading every poll by 50 points. He'd be killing everybody. But the fact that he got appointed hurt him. In fact, he was thinking about not accepting that. But if Luther just didn't do—didn't take an appointment, if he just ran, there wouldn't even be a contest. Nobody could come close to him. So it's one of those things.

But I can tell you personally, because I've been dealing with him for the months that he's been there, I'm very lucky that—and this country is very lucky that—he did take that appointment, because he's done a hell of a job. And that's what we need in Washington: people who have the courage to stand strong for our values, our families, our Nation; people who have the courage to challenge a failed system.

Look, with Obamacare, I've been listening for 7 years as many of these people—now, Richard kept voting against it, but many of these people kept saying "repeal and replace," "repeal and replace." Then, they finally have—now, they didn't care; nobody cared, because they had a President that wasn't going to sign it, and they didn't have the Senate, so it didn't matter. So it didn't take much courage. So they were getting all these great votes, you know, like—I think they voted, what, 61 times—like, 61 times to repeal and replace. They finally get a President who will sign the legislation, and they don't have the guts to vote for it. Okay? They don't have the guts to vote for it.

*Audience members*. Boo!

*The President*. Horrible.

And I was told: "Congratulations, you won. You won." You know why I won? Because the electoral college is a very special thing. And I decided very, I think, intelligently to campaign in the States that you have to win for the electoral college victory that you need. You know, it's very simple. Very simple. I took a pass on a lot of States. The electoral college—and I've never really been in favor of it, but now I appreciate it. [*Laughter*] No, no, I tell you what, to me, winning the popular vote is easier because you go to New York, you go to California, you go to Texas, you go to—the beauty with the electoral college is—I was going to Maine, I was going all over. I was going to smaller States. It brings the whole country into play. It brings certain States into play that would never really be thought of.

But I focused heavily on Pennsylvania and North Carolina. I focused very heavily here, but I actually made one speech here, and I said: "Fellas and folks, do you mind if I don't come back for a while? Because we have, like, a 38-point lead and I'd much rather spend my time in Florida," which we won quite easily, and Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and lots of other places.

So, Alabama, you were great. I mean, we won by so much. But—so the electoral college is actually something I've come to respect. But it's sort of like, if you're a hundred-yard-dash guy or if you're a long distance runner, you train differently. Well, if you're going for the electoral college, that's a much different race. So if Hillary runs again in 4 years, which I hope she does, we're going to teach her——

*Audience members*. Boo!

*The President*. We're going to teach her to spend more time in Michigan. We're going to teach her to go to Wisconsin. We're going to teach her to spend a little more capability in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida—which she lost, and she actually spent a tremendous amount of money.

So I just wanted to—because you hear so much about this—remember this: If you're going for the electoral college, it's a much different race. You don't spend your time in California and New York and these different places; you spend your time in Iowa and Ohio. Remember? You can't win unless you win Ohio. Well, we won Ohio by a lot, because I spent a lot of time up there.

But I would rather have the popular vote count because it's—for me, it would be easier than winning the electoral college, which they said a Republican could not win, if you remember. Remember they said, "There is no way to 270 for Trump." That's why I went to Maine four times, because I needed one. I needed one. They said there is no way. Well, we ended up at 306. There is no way. I guess they were right. No, no—Luther, they were right. They were a hundred-percent right. There is no way to 270, yes. But there is a way to 306, okay? So we won by a lot.

But when you hear all this nonsense—when you're a golfer and you have match play, or you're a golfer and you have stroke play, different tournament, you train differently. Same with runners, same with lots of other things. So they have to learn their lesson. They have to campaign in areas that really matter. But we had such a great victory. It was just something that was awe inspiring and something that I think everybody in this room will never, ever forget. And I appreciate the fact that the people of Alabama were with me right from the first day. And they said to me, don't come back; go to those other States that you have to win. I appreciate it.

And by the way, folks, just in case you're, like, curious—no, Russia did not help me, okay? [*Laughter*] Russia. I call it the "Russian hoax." One of the great hoaxes. Actually, that's the thing I was thinking about. That's the thing that the Democrats did best. They lost the election, and they didn't know what happened, and they needed an excuse, so they said "Russia." And then they said, wait a minute, wait a minute, "Russia and Trump." Honestly, it's the thing they did best. They did a rotten job of running, but to convince people about this hoax, that was probably the thing that they did best. But it is one great hoax. No, Russia did not help me, that I can tell you, okay? Any Russians in the audience? [*Laughter*] Are there any Russians in the audience, please? I don't see too many Russians. I didn't see too many Russians in Pennsylvania. [*Laughter*] I didn't see too many Russians.

We need people in this country who have the courage to say what they mean, to do what they say, and never, ever to back down. As your attorney general, Luther helped you lead the fight in court against the Obama administration's big power grabs. That includes challenging the EPA's Clean Power Plan—which, by the way, did you see what I did to that? Boom. Gone. Look at that guy. He knows. Gone.

And I did that one without Luther. But he defended it and got rid of a lot of things on a State level. And also, I've defended, and Luther has defended so vigorously, religious liberty, from Obamacare and the fighting of Obama's and the administration's dangerous, dangerous—really, almost you could say inhumane—plan on refugees. It's inhumane.

When I opened my election, I talked about what was happening, the viciousness in what was happening. A lot of people thought it was tough. Turned out to be true. In fact, it turned out to be understated, not overstated. And that was a big part of our success.

Since the day Big Luther arrived in the United States Senate, Luther has always been for us. He's always been for us. He's not a friend of Mitch McConnell. He doesn't know Mitch McConnell until just recently. And I don't say that badly about Mitch at all. I'm not saying that badly. I'm just telling you. He doesn't know him; he just got there. I said, how well do know you him? He said, "I just met him"—because he just got there. He's been there for a very short period of time. And in fact, he just came out against—and he was against it before—but he just came out against that totally ridiculous rule, the filibuster rule that's ridiculous.

So we have 52 Senators, and on a lot of legislation, you need 60 votes. That means we have to get 8 Democrats. And then, they get upset with me when I go to see Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who are very nice. They get upset. "Why did you see them?" I said, because this rule is crazy. We have 260 bills. Many of those bills—not all of them—because they could use reconciliation, for those of you that are interested in that—but that's a trick; that's just a trick. Many of those bills will never get passed—most of them won't—because you cannot get 60 votes. You cannot.

It means that 8 Democrats control the Senate. Now, I think we're going to pick up seats in '18. I'm going to work very hard. I think we're going to pick up Democratic seats. I believe that. We're going to pick up Democratic seats, but they have to get rid of the filibuster rule. Basically, we can't go to 60; we want 51. That's how we have Judge Gorsuch. If we didn't have that, you would not have Judge Gorsuch right now on the Supreme Court.

Luther was with us on withdrawing the United States from the deeply unfair, job-killing Paris climate accord, okay? You know, it sounds so nice, but it was a killer. It was a killer for our country. And it was very unfair. As an example, we kick in now—China, who I love right now—this week. [*Laughter*] Don't forget, that was a big thing. Got a 15-to-nothing vote twice. And I must say, Russia and China both came along. They both came along. That was a great thing. And maybe more importantly—maybe it's more important—but maybe more importantly that when China did this banking thing, that's so big. Let's see. I'll let you know if it's big in a little while. Let's see what happens, okay? Let's see what happens.

But certainly, it's never been done. And I think you're going to see some good things. I think China wants to get this problem—they don't need it. That's their part of the world; they don't need it. They do not need this problem. And they're very smart, and they're good people, and the President is a really good man, and he loves China. But it's good for China getting rid of that menace. It's really good for China, believe me.

Luther is with us on cracking down on dangerous sanctuary cities that release criminal aliens into our communities. What's that all about?

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* And by the way, Jeff Sessions is working very hard on that, really hard. Really hard and effectively, very effectively. Luther is with us on cutting taxes and bringing jobs back to America. He's with us on giving our military the tools, unlimited. He wants the military taken care of and funding the fight so that we win without question. And that's where we're going—$700 billion.

He not only has my endorsement—remember this—he also has the endorsement of my great friend and Vice President, Mike Pence. He has the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, the NRA. That's a biggie. That's a big one. Luther, that's big. He's got the endorsement of the National Right to Life and the Alabama Farmers. That's big stuff. Those are big endorsements. That NRA endorsement, I'm telling you, that is a powerful endorsement.

With Luther Strange, you don't just send a message to Washington, you send a fighter to change Washington the way we all know it can be. Since election day on November 8, we've already achieved historic wins for the American people. The stock market has reached its highest point in history. They hate it. They hate to hear that. [*Laughter*] Oh! We're up like 22 percent since November, 22 percent since the election day. And I think it's even more than that. But it's reached the highest point—think of it—the highest point. And unemployment is at the lowest level it's been for 16 years, close to 17.

Most importantly to me—and I have to see it, and I'll say it again because I said it at the beginning, but I have to sort of wrap it up and say it again—companies are flowing back into our country. They want to be here. I was with one of the great gentlemen that I became friendly with—the leader of a major, major country—so I won't tell you, because I said I'd keep it private. So, you know, there are probably a lot of people watching on television. Oh, look at all those red lights. Ay yai yai. It's always fun to see a red light. Like, CNN has a red light on. And then I start saying it's fake news, and you see that light go off so fast. [*Laughter*]

By the way, do you think they showed the room? Look, do you think they showed up the little nooks and crannies in this—[*applause*]? Do you think they showed the room? I don't think so. If there's an empty seat, they'll show that empty seat. Two people, they got up, they went to the bathroom, they're coming back in 5—they show those empty seats every single time. Fake news.

So I'm really proud, because a record in the history of our country's stock market. Tremendous gains. People that run companies that truly hate me, they now love me. They're coming up—"Mr. President, sir." I'm making them all—everybody. And that means jobs. It means everybody. I'm serious. People that truly dislike your President, the heads of these companies are coming up and hugging me and kissing me, and, oh, they are just—[*applause*]. But I'm not doing it for them; I'm doing it for jobs. I'm doing it for the country, that I can tell you. Doing it for the country.

I told you many times during the campaign, but I told you many times—and this is not even a choice—we're renegotiating NAFTA, and we're either going to get a fair deal, or we're going to terminate NAFTA. It's very simple, okay? Because it's one of the worst deals ever, ever negotiated. One of the worst deals ever negotiated.

Every day, I am keeping my promise. We have done so much. You know, they don't like to say it, but we've passed over 50 pieces of legislation. That means going through Congress. That means getting approved by the House and the Senate and signing. That's not including all of the Executive orders I've signed. That's not including the fact that we have reduced unnecessary regulations to a point that this country hasn't seen in years. And we're not finished yet. But one of my biggest promises has been to our great veterans. And we are doing one of our best jobs there. We are doing one of our best jobs with our veterans. We've published online wait times at every VA facility, opened the promised White House VA Hotline, extended Veterans Choice. You know what that is? The veterans, our greatest people, these are our greatest, our bravest, our most wonderful people. And in some cases, they get older, and things happen. They're waiting on line for 7 days, for 9 days, for 16 days, and in some cases, they die. In some cases, they can have a simple procedure, they can have a simple prescription, and it takes 11 or 12 days to get off line to see the doctor. By the time they get to the doctor, they're terminal.

So I said, without knowing much, but having a lot of common sense and very good up here, always, always—but I said, you know, like you people, I said, that doesn't make sense. If they're waiting in line—can you imagine—we have a lot of people that are very successful people here. Can you imagine going to your doctor and having him say you'll have to wait for 11 days? If I have to wait for 2 seconds, I go crazy. Hopefully, we don't have to see too many doctors. That's even better, right? Let's not see the doctor. But they wait for days and days. And now they go right outside, they go to a doctor in the area, we pay the bill, and it's the least expensive thing we can do, and we save everybody's life, and everybody is happy. Everybody is happy.

And when I first heard—because I've only been doing this for a little while—but when I first heard of the problem, that's what I said: Why aren't they just going to see a doctor? We'll pay. Now, we've got to negotiate with the doctors pretty carefully, because I know a lot about doctors, where they charge a lot of money, so we've got to be a little careful. But now the people are happy.

We are doing so many things. We have VA worker accountability. For 40 years they've been trying to get it passed. They couldn't. I will not blame the unions, and I will not blame civil service. But that was the problem, okay? You have the unions, you have—they didn't want it. For 40 years, they couldn't get it passed. So you would have people working in the VA, who were sadists, who would abuse our great, great people, our great veterans. By the way, 25 years before, they would have had their ass kicked by the same person that they're abusing. [*Applause*] True. They would have been in trouble. They would have been in trouble. Twenty-five years earlier, they wouldn't be doing it. But that's the way it is.

But they're sadists, or they're doing a bad job. Or they're not working. You couldn't fire them. I had passed the VA accountability act. We have a great man, David Shulkin—Dr. David Shulkin—he's running the VA. He has done more in 8 months than they've done at the VA for years and years and years. And it's really getting good over there. So, very proud of him—because I made that promise.

And in the best tradition of America's greatest leaders, we're standing up for American workers and defending American jobs and American industry. We're building our future with American hands, American labor, and American iron, aluminum, and steel. We will buy American. We will hire American. In my first month in office, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous and job-killing—it would have been a disaster—the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Great rip-off. You want to see jobs leave the country? Sign that. And they were going to sign that as fast as they could. That was a disaster for this country.

We're eliminating unnecessary regulations so we can create more jobs and wealth right here in America. I've ended the Obama administration's war on coal, and we're putting our wonderful coal miners back to work, producing beautiful clean coal. And here's one that nobody had the guts to do, and I did it in my first very few days in office: I authorized the construction of the Keystone Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline: over 50,000 jobs—50,000 beautiful construction jobs. And environmentally better, much better.

We've increased our military and defense budgets to the highest level it's been probably ever. It's going to be over $700 billion. We're going to rebuild it. We are rebuilding. We're ordering new fighters. We're ordering new jets. You know what's been happening. The jets are so old that the father flew them, and then the son goes into the Air Force, and he flies the same plane. [*Laughter*] True.

And we've committed to expanding and improving a state-of-the-art missile defense system. Thank you very much, Huntsville, Alabama. Thank you. Thank you, Huntsville. [*Applause*] Right? It's amazing the way all of a sudden "missile defense system" sounds so good. And by the way, these systems, I watch them, and I see what's being developed. I mean, they're taking out rockets that are going so fast, it's—and the percentage of success is so high. It's so brilliant what we can do—so that we can do what we have to do to have a safe country. So I want to thank you, Huntsville, because you're a big part of it.

We've just brought back the National Space Council to restore America's legacy of leadership in space. It leads to so many things. The Council will be chaired by Vice President Pence who's visiting your NASA facility in Huntsville on Monday to get you out to vote—that's why. Get you out to vote.

And we're making our community safe again by going after violent criminals and putting dangerous offenders behind bars. They're going in fast. They're going in fast. We have the backs of our police officers, our ICE officers, and our Border Patrol officers. And we have their backs 100 percent, just like they take care of us. One by one, we're finding—and I mean in large numbers—and our guys are much tougher than their guys—we're finding the gang members, the drug dealers, and the criminals who prey on our people. We're throwing them the hell out of our country, and we will not let them back in. They don't come back in anymore. Different age. They don't come back in.

We also understand that immigration security is a national—it's really a national treasure, but it's a national security. We need national security for safety. We're going to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country. Sorry. Sorry. Call up some of the other countries in the world, say, "How you doing, folks?" Not so good.

We're creating an immigration system that puts American workers and American families first. We're moving quickly to pass a massive tax cut and simplification for the middle class. We want new tax returns. We want simplification. We want reform. And you know what we really want? We want massive tax cuts. That's what we're doing for business. That's what we're doing for the middle class.

If we want to restore American prosperity, we need tax reform that is progrowth, projobs, proworker, profamily, and pro-American. The United States currently has the highest business tax rates anywhere in the world, 60 percent higher than other developed countries. This is a massive economic disadvantage for America, costing us millions and millions of jobs and trillions of dollars.

Under our plan that you're going to see next week—enjoy it, okay? Enjoy it. You're going to love it. It will be the biggest tax cut—I've got to get it approved by Richard and by Luther. But I have a feeling you'll be okay. Luther, you promise? Because if you don't for it, I'm leaving right now—I'm going to take away—[*laughter*]. If he doesn't vote for it, I'm taking away the endorsement.

No, but under Luther and under Richard, we're going to have one of the lowest tax rates in the developed world, bringing back our jobs, our companies, bringing them back to our shores. With Luther's help, we're going to reform our Tax Code to make American business competitive again so that American workers and American companies can win again.

We're going to bring back to our country 3, 4, maybe 5—nobody even knows what the number is—but many trillions of dollars that is currently parked overseas, and it will be invested right here in the good, old U.S.A. It's coming back into our country. Right now it's impossible to get it back.

We're committed to protecting small businesses and family farmers by ending the death tax on estates. You lose your farm, you lose your business, you can't pay the tax. We're getting rid of the death tax. In addition to passing historic tax reforms, Luther and I are totally dedicated to repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Now, I have to tell you, maybe we're going to do it now. It's a little tougher without McCain's vote, I'll be honest. It's a little tougher. But we've got some time. We're going to go back. You know, it's like a boxer—they get knocked down, get up. Get knocked down, get up. Get knocked down. And then, the bad ones, they stay in the stool, and they say, "We quit, we quit." The great ones get up, and they end up winning. That's what we're going to do. We might have to go back again and again.

I mean, like, we may make it this time. But the most we'll be is one or two votes short. You can't quit when you have one or two votes short. You can't do it. And those people are not going to be liked by the communities that they come from, because in most cases—in, I think, almost all of the cases—they got elected on the basis of repealing and replacing, and they are not doing a service to the people that they represent.

Luther Strange fought against Obamacare as attorney general of Alabama, and he fought it well. And he's fighting Obamacare in the Senate, and he's going to keep fighting, because we're going to win. It's going to be gone. And we're going to have great health care in this country.

Your premiums are surging. Your deductibles are through the roof. Alabama is way up, but we have States that are up 150 percent. We have one State, the State of Alaska, it's up more than 200 percent. And I'm having a hard time getting a certain vote, but she's a good person, and I think she's going to come through. I mean, I'll—if you look, Alaska is up over 200 percent, so that means Obamacare is no good. So we shouldn't have a hard time getting her vote, and I think she's going to come through. I hope so.

Insurers are fleeing. Doctors are quitting. Choices are disappearing. Congress must do its job by ending the Obamacare nightmare. So, so, to deliver for American families, we are also working to pass the RAISE Act, legislation that would end chain migration and switch our country to a merit-based immigration system. Merit, merit, merit. People that will help our country. People that will help our country.

We have Tom Cotton. We have David Perdue. Two great Senators. And they're working on it. The RAISE Act would keep new immigrations from going on welfare for 5 years.

*Audience member*. Yes! *The President*. Isn't that nice? They don't walk over and say, I'm going on welfare. Isn't that nice? Maybe keep them from ever going on welfare. And would require them to support themselves and their families financially. It's time to create an immigration system that serves the interests of the United States of America.

We also want an infrastructure bill that generates $1 trillion of investment in rebuilding our country with American hands and skill and grit. We want to lift Americans from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. [*Applause*] Right?

We want every American child to grow up learning the dignity of work, the pride of a paycheck, and the satisfaction of a job well done. We want our citizens to go to work every morning in a job they love, supporting their families and lifting up their communities like you people have done so well. But we can only bring prosperity back to our country and hope to our struggling communities if we can take our America first agenda, if we can take our "make America great again" agenda back to Washington and drive it to victory.

We can only achieve those historic legislative wins—and we've had a lot of them in a short period of time—if we have patriots in Congress who are willing to stand up and fight for what we believe. And that guy can do it.

We can only win those fights and we can only drain the swamp if we have smart, tough, and tenacious leaders who know who they represent and they know how to deliver. Luther Strange is our man. He's our man. You've got to get out and vote. I mean, again, I'm taking a big risk, because if Luther doesn't make it, they're going to go after me, Luther, these people—these very dishonest people—they're going to say, Trump, Trump, Trump. Okay? But we've done great together, and we have done great over the last 2 months right here.

This is our moment. This is your moment. This is a big day, because you have a lot of people banking on somebody else's victory and then thinking they're going to become Democrats in the State of Alabama. And I don't think that's a good thing.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* That's not a good thing. If this man wins, that race is over. If somebody else wins, I will tell you, that's going to be a very tough race.

Every day, we must fight for the change you've been waiting for your entire life: a government that serves you, that protects your family, that upholds your laws, and that honors your faith, and that defends values, and that always puts the needs of our citizens first. We are Americans and the future belongs to us. The future belongs to all of you. But we have got to go out and take it. We have got to go out and earn it. We have got to go out and vote. If we don't vote, it's not going to happen.

So, on Tuesday, vote for your country, vote for your family, vote for your victory. Vote for Luther Strange. He's a phenomenal person. And together, with the great people of Alabama, and your giant in the Senate, we will make America strong again, we will make America wealthy again, we will make America proud again, we will make America safe again, and we will make America great again.

Thank you, Alabama. I love you. Thank you. I love you, Alabama. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 7:07 p.m. at the Von Braun Center. In his remarks, he referred to Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III; Gov. Kay E. Ivey of Alabama; President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico; Chairman of the Korean Worker's Party Kim Jong Un of North Korea; former President William J. Clinton; Alabama Republican senatorial candidate Roy S. Moore; former Secretary State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her capacity as the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee; Melissa Strange, wife of Sen. Strange; Alabama Democratic senatorial candidate Doug Jones; and Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : Strange, Sen. Luther J., III, campaign rally in Huntsville, AL*.*

*Locations: *Huntsville, AL*.*

*Names:* Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Clinton, William J.; Cotton, Thomas B.; Gorsuch, Neil M.; Ivey, Kay E.; Jones, Doug; Kelly, John F.; Kim Jong Un; McCain, John S., III; McConnell, A. Mitchell; Moore, Roy S.; Murkowski, Lisa; Obama, Barack; Paul, Randal H.; Pelosi, Nancy; Peña Nieto, Enrique; Pence, Michael R.; Perdue, David A., Jr.; Schumer, Charles E.; Sessions, Jefferson B., III; Shelby, Richard C.; Shulkin, David J.; Strange, Luther J., III; Strange, Melissa; Trump, Melania; Xi Jinping*.*

*Subjects:* Alabama : Republican Party event; Alabama : Governor; Alabama : President's visit; Armed Forces, U.S : Funding; Armed Forces, U.S. : Funding; Business and industry : Global competitiveness; China : President; Civil rights : Firearm rights; Commerce, international : Free and fair trade; Commerce, international : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Communications : News media :: Accuracy and fairness; Congress : House of Representatives :: Minority leader; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Congress : Senate :: Minority leader; Defense and national security : Border security; Defense and national security : National missile defense; Drug abuse and trafficking : Illegal drugs, interdiction efforts; Economy, national : Improvement; Elections : 2016 Presidential and congressional elections; Elections : Voter participation; Employment and unemployment : Job creation and growth; Employment and unemployment : Unemployment rate; Energy : Coal and clean coal technologies; Energy : Greenhouse gas emissions, regulation; Energy : Oil and gas industry :: Dakota Access Pipeline project; Energy : Oil and gas industry :: Keystone XL Pipeline project; Environment : Paris Agreement; Government organization and employees : Accountability and transparency, strengthening efforts; Government organization and employees : Federal regulations, review; Health and medical care : Affordability and costs; Health and medical care : Health insurance reforms; Health and medical care : Insurance coverage and access to providers; Homeland Security, Department of : Customs and Border Protection, U.S.; Homeland Security, Department of : Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.; Immigration and naturalization : Foreign nationals and refugees, U.S. admission policy; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Immigration and naturalization : Reform; Immigration and naturalization : Refugees; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: Associate Justice; Justice, Department of : Attorney General; Justice, Department of : Bureau of Investigation, Federal; Law enforcement and crime : Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Law enforcement and crime : Transnational criminal organizations; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; Mexico : Earthquakes, damage and recovery efforts; Mexico : President; National Football League, national anthem controversy; North Korea : Ballistic missiles, testing and development; North Korea : International diplomatic efforts; North Korea : Korean Worker's Party Chairman; North Korea : Nuclear weapons development; Russia : U.S. elections, interference; Space Council, National; Space program : Aeronautics and Space Administration, National; Taxation : Corporate tax rates; Taxation : Estate tax; Taxation : Overseas tax havens, efforts to combat; Taxation : Tax Code, reform; Taxation : Tax relief; Terrorism : Counterterrorism efforts; Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); Transportation : Infrastructure, national, improvement efforts; United Nations : General Assembly; Veterans : Health and medical care; Veterans Affairs, Department of : Secretary; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Chief of Staff; White House Office : Vice President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201700679.